I'm happy to report that the experience went REALLY well. Wanted to go back several years to give you an idea about how our neighborhood has evolved. When we moved in October 2007, the neighborhood was INCREDIBLY tight. All the families had just moved in or were just moving in. If you drove in any given night in the spring, summer or fall, you'd see people huddled in large groups chatting the night away. We had neighborhood BBQs and parties and all kinds of fun together. To be honest, it was idyllic. I couldn't have asked for a better community and neighborhood. But then there started to be factions, little cliques and groups. There seemed to be a division between the "upper" neighborhood and the "lower" neighborhood. The awesome meal chain we had running for new babies suddenly stopped. There were still occasional neighborhood gatherings, but division was more and more clear. Eventually, the neighborhood gatherings stopped. So did the gatherings of people we used to see all around the neighborhood. By the end of last fall (2015), there was an estimated 60% turnover of families in the neighborhood...MOST of the families who moved in at the same time as us had decided to move away. Our neighborhood as we once knew it was gone. Most original neighbors would agree. It's NOT what it once was. Honestly, with all the turnover and the neighborhood NOT being the place it was when we moved in, I was ready to move. I didn't know this neighborhood anymore. We thought we were going to retire in this home, but now, I don't think so.
Skip forward to present day..
I went to Walmart to buy marshmallow sticks, marshmallows, Hersheys bars and graham crackers. I also bought a juice boxes and pop.
Once we got the fire going, the kids showed up first. SEVERAL of them! MANY, in fact. Our adult neighbors across the street came out first. They brought over chairs and plopped themselves down next to us and the fire pit. Honestly, in almost 9 years of living in this house (and them in the house across the street), they've only BOTH been in our yard at the same time ONCE besides this fire pit night. They party and socialize with our neighbors next door quite a bit, but we're usually not a part of it other than kid to kid interactions. So this was pretty awesome that they felt comfortable to come over, make themselves comfortable and begin some
conversation. It was a bit awkward at first. Just the four of us adults and a bunch of neighborhood kids around the fire. A bit awkward in regards to conversation...as I said, our deeper conversation as two couples has been fairly limited. The kids helped break the ice. So did the marshmallows and smores stuff. They broke out some 80s and 90s music which was good conversation as well...
Praise God, I think it all worked out quite well! Once again, the conversation was a bit awkward at first, now with 6 of us adults. But it worked. And there was something about it that felt healing and renewing. We all survived. We conversed. We enjoyed ourselves. We had a good time. That sense of close community we once enjoyed in the neighborhood was coming back to life.
At one point, a BIG group of neighbor boys came walking down the street and were going to play street games. One of the neighbors said something like "this is like back in the 70s when I was growing up." It was ALL good...he's a retro kind of guy who longs for the good old days. This comment brought me great joy. Not only was this restoring some sense of community in our cul-de-sac and neighborhood, but it was restoring a sense of old-fashioned values and lifestyle.
That big group of neighbor boys played street games with our neighbor college kid and the male neighbor who commented about this being like the 70s growing up. It was pretty awesome. Basically, they took turns trying to throw balls into 5 gallon buckets across the cul-de-sac. They had an awesome time, and again, I haven't seen this kind of community "gaming" in our cul-de-sac for years.
While we didn't share the good news of Jesus Christ that night, we did talk about our church and how many of us have committed to gathering around fires for the summer with neighbors. They seemed curious and pleasantly surprised about the concept, then conversation moved on. Part of me felt like I was supposed to do "more" in regards to sharing my faith outright. On the other hand, this was a new beginning, a restoration, a reclaiming of sorts.
The fire gathering lasted about 3 hours, from 7-10 pm. Late at the end, our other next door neighbors came out. I'm typically not a huge socializer with our immediate neighbors... But that night in the dark around the fire, I felt completely at ease. I felt like myself, and I felt like THEY could be themselves as well. This was a very good thing.
I guess that's all for now. It was a huge success. All 5 of us agreed. Well worth every dollar. Well worth every effort. Well worth saying "YES" to this idea God laid on the hearts of PCC leadership. Thanks so much, and will look forward to reporting in July.